5 Things You Ought to Know This Week

Good Monday morning, Bethlehem!

Hope you all had a pleasant weekend. I spent most of mine in rooms filled with similarly deluded “experts” drafting fantasy baseball teams. It has become an annual spring ritual to bond with two separate groups of friends over pizza, subs and hardball debate and discussion.

Do I like my teams? Ask me in a couple of months. It’s hard to know right now. So much of fantasy baseball success depends having your players avoid injury.

I will say this much: I drafted no Phillies because I despise all things wearing red pinstripes; I drafted no Mets because I want to win. More on the baseball later.

1. Tonight, Bethlehem City Council meets in another joint meeting of the Finance and Public Works committees to discuss a wind energy project in the city’s watershed area in the Poconos. The meeting starts at 7 p.m. at Town Hall. The Bethlehem Area School Board does not meet at all this week.

2. In , the Planning Commission meets at 7 p.m. tonight in the township building to discuss a variety of development projects that remain in various stages of review, including the “Field of Dreams.” The Zoning Hearing Board meets at 6:30 p.m. Wednesday night to consider a dimensional variance request at 3301 Highfield Drive.

3. The Greater Lehigh Valley Auto Show kicks off at 10 a.m. Thursday at ’s Mountaintop campus at Stabler Arena, Rauch Fieldhouse and a pavilion tent set up next to both buildings. If there is a make or model on sale at a dealership in the Lehigh Valley, chances are, it will be at this auto show, which lasts through Sunday.

A gala preview of the show is also scheduled on Wednesday evening. Tickets are $60 a person and $100 a couple, with the proceeds benefitting the pediatric unit of Good Shepherd Rehabilitation Hospital. There will be live music, cocktails and dinner.

4. This week in road maintenance, there is an assortment of maintenance planned along Route 22 from the Lehigh River bridge all the way to Route 33. We’re talking about sweeping, pothole patching and bridge inspections. Watch out for maintenance vehicles and expect some spotty delays all week.

Highway beautification work is also planned along Route 378 (the Fred B. Rooney Memorial Highway) from Route 22 to the Eighth Avenue exit on Thursday.  Pothole patching is also planned further south into Lower Saucon Township on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Expect delays.

As ever, the construction at the south end of the Hill-to-Hill Bridge continues, slowing down Route 378 traffic into South Bethlehem and the surrounding streets.

5. Finally, this is a week for celebration. Major League Baseball is scheduled to arrive on Thursday afternoon. The Yankees open the season at home at 1 p.m. against the Tigers. The world champion San Francisco Giants open their season at 8 p.m. Thursday at Dodger Stadium.

On Friday, the Phillies open up at home against the Houston Astros at 1 p.m., while my woeful Mets start their season in Miami at 7 p.m.

We at Patch are excited about the beginning of the baseball season. We will be offering our own take on the season as it unfolds, both in the major leagues and the International League as the open their season next week.

On Sunday, we brought you a about Bethlehem native and former Liberty High School and Lehigh University standout catcher Matt McBride, who is pursuing his shot at the big leagues. He starts this year with the Indians Class AAA team, Columbus Clippers.

There will be more surprises in store. Keep clicking to us.